Pentagon Ready to End ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

Posted on Jul 22, 2011

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen have a meeting with the president Friday and, according to numerous reports, Panetta will inform the commander in chief that the Pentagon is ready to end the military’s policy of discrimination against gay troops.

Although Congress approved legislation allowing for the policy’s demise, “don’t ask, don’t tell” is still on the books. Both the Joint Chiefs chairman and the defense secretary must agree that ending the policy will not affect national security, after which time the president will let Congress know and then we have to wait 60 days, because this is the United States government and even fairness has a waiting period.

President Obama earlier this week signaled his support for a bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. Both DOMA and “don’t ask” were gifts from Bill Clinton, who never gets enough attention for betraying his LGBT supporters.

And because we’re always pointing out when he fails to do so, it’s nice to see Obama deliver (or, more accurately, reportedly move closer to delivering) on one of his campaign promises. —PZS

New York Times:

The Pentagon’s leadership is expected to tell President Obama as early as Friday that the armed forces are now trained and ready to implement a repeal of the military’s ban on openly gay troops, officials disclosed. A repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” legislation was signed by Mr. Obama in December, and the Defense Department and the individual military services have been training their personnel in preparation for lifting the ban.

The rumors that Panetta and Mullen are having a ‘bitter pre-domestic squabble’ about which will give the other an engagement ring, and which will be the ‘bride’ in their upcoming nuptials, are, so far, unsubstantiated.